Summer hits are usually action-packed fantasy adventures with superheroes, and with releases like Harry Potter, Transformers and Fast Five, this year was no exception. But The Help has made over $100 million in box office grosses — in less than three weeks.

The $100 million sum is a mere fraction of what The Deathly Hallows and The Hangover IIhave made. But The Help is a drama, standing out in a summer of comedies and action flicks.

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The Hollywood Reporternotes that like The Blind Side, The Help is an "atypical" blockbuster. Also like The Blind Side, The Help's biracial cast could be part of its success — the film appeals to both black and white audiences.

But The Help has been plagued by controversy: The movie is based on the 2009 best-selling novel, written by Kathryn Stockett, and features a fictional character, a black maid named Aibileen Clark. Kathryn Stockett's brother, Robert Stockett III, has employed a nanny — who is black — for years. Her name? Ablene Cooper. She calls the portrayal of Aibileen "embarrassing," and has filed a lawsuit against the author.

And some black people are not interested in The Help inasmuch as a contemporary white writer and director are telling the stories of black women in the 1960s. As Jamilah Lemieux wrote in April:

…If I was to be interested in such a story, I would like to hear "the help" tell it herself. Spare me the fantasy reinvention of a middle-class white woman.

Still, The Help remains an interesting success story: It's a movie driven by a book, driven by women (the opening night audience was 74% female) and featuring some fantastic black actresses in its cast. Which is cool. (I'm still not going to see it, though.)